Great news: 2020 Census to be an Internet poll

posted at 1:01 pm on March 29, 2013 by Ed Morrissey

Add paper census questionnaires to the long list of everyday items becoming quaint vestiges of tired technology, like landline phones, television armoires and butterfly ballots.

The Census Bureau already has started offering an Internet option to the 250,000 households it selects every month at random for the American Community Survey. Since becoming available in January, more than half the responses have come in on a secure site that requires codes and PIN numbers.

The bureau expects to use the Internet — plus smart phones and other technologies yet to be invented — for the next decen­nial census, in 2020.

Those of us with some experience in Internet surveys may laugh at the prospect of holding the decennial Census through this medium with any confidence level, but the Census Bureau says they have little choice. Congress won’t give them more money to poll each house in the old-fashioned way, so they need to find ways to make the process more efficient. That only works to a point, though:

The households selected for the survey still get their first contact the old-fashioned way, with a mailed letter telling them the questionnaire is on its way. Then they receive a letter telling them how to respond over the Internet. If they don’t use that option, they get a 28-page paper form a few weeks later.

The questions are listed on a green-tinted Web page that takes roughly 40 minutes to complete, with 24 questions on housing alone and up to 48 questions about every household resident.

If they want to save costs, why bother with the initial letter telling people the form is on its way? Why not just skip directly to Step 2, explaining how to answer the questionnaire on line? The Census Bureau gets a ton of earned media from national and local broadcasters talking about the process, so it won’t exactly be a surprise in 2020 when the instructions show up. This process sounds like the equivalent of a horrible trend at one of my former workplaces of holding pre-meeting meetings in order to set an agenda.

For decades, U.S.-owned technology giants have set up state-of-the-art factories, laboratories and training programs in China. Their aim was to use a super-cheap, lightly regulated production base to supply Chinese and world markets, and to harness Chinese scientific talent. Greater profits were the top priority, but the companies also claimed that a more computer- and Internet-savvy China would become more peaceful and democratic.

Chinese authorities demanded some technology as the price of access to their market. Yet most transfers were made voluntarily to Chinese partners. China’s hacking prowess makes clear that, as critics warned, the government and military benefited from widespread sharing of know-how directly applicable to spying, sabotage and theft of business secrets.

Those four companies, and many others, still supply official Chinese customers with capabilities easily used against U.S. government or business targets. (Google itself has repeatedly complained about attacks from China-based hackers.) These companies also continue to strengthen the technology base of a nation designated by the Defense Department as the greatest potential foreign threat to U.S. security.

Cisco, for example, says that its goals include maintaining “close relationships with government” and notes that the regime’s “good will” is important for operations, “enforcement,” sales and policy. IBM touts its capacity to “improve the way government” works, “solve problems and challenges in public administration,” and aid China’s “drive to build a harmonious society.” Intel Corp. (INTC) says its mission includes “strategic technology collaborations” with the government. Microsoft considers itself “a partner in developing the local IT ecosystem with the Chinese government.”

Who will be the US government’s partners on this program, and how secure will they make this process? When Rhode Island ends up with 62 House seats and we find that Nebraska has the greatest concentration of shipyard workers in the US, well, we might be asking ourselves a few questions about the wisdom of this decision.

Let’s take a poll on the concept! I’m sure the result will be scientifically unassailable:

Breaking on Hot Air

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Comments

The potential for fraud is endless, and a lot is at stake in the census. Think of all the House seats Democrats could gain through reapportionment based on fraudulent returns. Think of all the federal resources that could be diverted to Democrat strongholds.

If they don’t use that option, they get a 28-page paper form a few weeks later.

That 28 page form whether paper or on-line will have only one question answered. How many people live in the house. Then I will make sure my front gate, 300 yards from the house, is locked every day for the rest of the calendar year. That way they won’t come knocking on my door.

Does this mean that there will be less semi-skilled people knocking on doors as temporary census workers? Or do they simply go out with a laptop to help people register how many people are in their household, marital status, and of course the number of weapons of war they have.

A few years ago the Dallas city council set up an internet poll to vote on a new name for a street, problem was no one knew about it except for some hispanic activist groups who flooded the poll with votes to name it after Cesar Chavez. Well, imagine everyone’s surprise when they wake up one day to find a major road in their city was going to be named after everyone’s favorite communist. Much arguing ensued and eventually the city settled on a compromise to name a different, less important road after Chavez, but it was a good example of how people can game internet surveys.

A few years ago the Dallas city council set up an internet poll to vote on a new name for a street, problem was no one knew about it except for some hispanic activist groups who flooded the poll with votes to name it after Cesar Chavez. Well, imagine everyone’s surprise when they wake up one day to find a major road in their city was going to be named after everyone’s favorite communist. Much arguing ensued and eventually the city settled on a compromise to name a different, less important road after Chavez, but it was a good example of how people can game internet surveys.

clearbluesky on March 29, 2013 at 1:32 PM

Also shows how activist groups can mobilize the sheeple for their own agenda.

This is inevitable. And by 2019 when they actually begin the survey, more and more people will be cellphone access only. Procedures change.

Old folks around here tell me of the time when everyone paid their city water bill by physically going town to city hall and linining up in person to pay every month. Then in the 1970s you could mail in the payments. Then in the early 2000s you could start paying online.

Honestly, I wasn’t in full snark mode when I suggested that. I mean it seems inevitable if we are going to legitimize sodomite relationships and declare gays to be a protected class like blacks or Hispanics, why wouldn’t there be a push for gay-based constituencies?

Why do we need to take a census at all? Every American Citizen is issued a Social Security Number, when they die, that number is removed from the active database. Just run a spreadsheet tallying the number of legitimate active social security numbers.

I remember that! We have some warehouses on Industrial (the old name). When they had the stakeholder meetings, all the little Hispanic commies had matching t-shirts and professionally printed signs. They had homeless people wearing them and testifying how great the Chavez name would be for the area. The biz owners sat on one side calmly until the commies claimed that we the biz owners had “intimidated” all the people on Industrial into voting down the Chavez name. That woke us up and pissed us off!

We all just wanted the street to be named after something to do with THE RIVER considering that the dumb arses in Dallas were spending $1B+ on the riverfront!

Also shows how activist groups can mobilize the sheeple for their own agenda.

Happy Nomad on March 29, 2013 at 1:36 PM

No kidding. None of us even knew about the online survey until the results came out. The commie in charge just happened to be married to a city council person and had access to info. He got all his La Raza friends to fill it out over and over again.

Every American Citizen is issued a Social Security Number, when they die, that number is removed from the active database. Just run a spreadsheet tallying the number of legitimate active social security numbers.

SWalker on March 29, 2013 at 1:45 PM

Silly! How do the Dems get the illegal trespassers counted that way? They probably are using an SSN but it isn’t theirs.

The fraction of the inquiries using the long form provide information that is used for a lot of purposes other than redistricting. Those could be done via internet. The short forms which round out the data could be done in the more traditional manner and be used for redistricting.

The biz owners sat on one side calmly until the commies claimed that we the biz owners had “intimidated” all the people on Industrial into voting down the Chavez name. That woke us up and pissed us off!

mrsmwp on March 29, 2013 at 1:46 PM

Yeah these situations always end up in charges of racism. When I was living in Michigan, activists wanted to re-name a major street for MLK. Nevermind Dr. King had never been to the town and there is already a school, park, and statue named after MLK. Well, businesses objected due to the cost of the name change. Homeowners along all but most inner-city portion of the road objected in a majority. Yet activists essentially said re-name this street or you hate black people. In the end they put up commemorative street signs but the old name remained.

Why do we need to take a census at all? Every American Citizen is issued a Social Security Number, when they die, that number is removed from the active database. Just run a spreadsheet tallying the number of legitimate active social security numbers.
SWalker on March 29, 2013 at 1:45 PM

Exactly. Between tax returns and SSNs there has got to be a better way to count our population than census forms.

It would be nice to think that voter registration could be a reliable source as well. Not rational, but nice.

Democrats will argue that conducting the survey over the internet will discriminate against inner-city residents, who don’t have internet access (and thus, won’t be counted).

Revenant on March 29, 2013 at 1:33 PM

that’s the easy part. They will have all the bugs of that process worked out because the o.care application will be the testbed. And remember the O.care system will have ‘assisters’ which will help people (barry will pay the assisters 58 bucks a pop)

so, by 2020 we will have a nice little cottage industry (think ACORN) that will go house to house, block by block, helping people.

where it will be ‘interesting’ is when we get a shiny new Internet Voting System. I see something like a system integrated with the O.care and DHS databases.

We know how many voting age people are in your household, and their citizenship status, and citizenship status…so gather your houshold around and VOTE!…fun and easy…oh, if you don’t have a computer, we will GIVE you one…. and please let us know if you need an assister

The potential for fraud is endless, and a lot is at stake in the census. Think of all the House seats Democrats could gain through reapportionment based on fraudulent returns. Think of all the federal resources that could be diverted to Democrat strongholds.

steebo77 on March 29, 2013 at 1:07 PM

Gee, you would almost think they were doing this on purpose, like cynical power-hungry bastards.

That 28 page form whether paper or on-line will have only one question answered. How many people live in the house. Then I will make sure my front gate, 300 yards from the house, is locked every day for the rest of the calendar year. That way they won’t come knocking on my door.

chemman on March 29, 2013 at 1:14 PM

I found that a rattlesnake curled up by my front door worked very well to scare off the last census worker who knocked on my door (true story).

No kidding. None of us even knew about the online survey until the results came out. The commie in charge just happened to be married to a city council person and had access to info. He got all his La Raza friends to fill it out over and over again.

mrsmwp on March 29, 2013 at 1:48 PM

Ahh, that’s right, i couldn’t remember how the activist groups had found out about it but yeah, that was how, inside info.

Anyone else wonder what sort of things will be included in the terms and conditions that you’ll agree to without thinking when you fill out your online census form?

The terms and conditions will include mandatory government intrusion into our personal lives, carefully monitoring the decisions we make so the undesirable ones can be wisely and lovingly be corrected or blocked from access and use.

I received a letter telling me how to answer the Community Survey on Wednesday. I have no intention of answering any darn thing they send on the internet. The letter explains if I don’t respond in a few weeks I will receive a paper questionnaire and, indeed, it does say it will take about 40 minutes to fill out.